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DENNIS ERECTUS HOSPITALIZED. |
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My good friend shock rock radio pioneer Dennis Erectus was hospitalized on Thanksgiving night after suffering a massive heart attack. Years before Howard Stern hit the airwaves, Erectus perfected the shock jock formula but did it with a kind of intelligence that made him a uniquely Bay Area phenomenon. He was the nighttime deejay at KOME 98.5 during the station's most envelope-pushing years in the late 70s and 80s. With such raunchy skits as "Celebrity Gang Bang," Erectus' show was the slice of airtime that had thousands of South Bay 13-year-olds (such as myself) strapping on transistor radio headphone sets because we didn't want our moms to know what we were listening to. Unlike Stern, who would use a similar shtick to make fun of the homeless and mentally disabled, Erectus' targets were always racists and the powerful elites. Televangelists, the Reagans and Maggie Thatcher were often on the receiving end of those audio gangbangs. |
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Erectus
and The Poontangler at the Fillmore during one of Dennis' many Incredibly
Strange Wrestling appearances.In the late 1990s, Erectus managed me, Count Dante, to the very heights of Incredibly Strange Wrestling. He taught me a lot about both announcing and creating wrestling storylines that helped me to become a creative force behind the promotion as we played the Fillmore, and toured the US and Europe. In 2004, as a personal favor, Dennis became an ordained minister and performed the ceremony at me and my wife's wedding. Earlier this year, Dennis added a voiceover on the final track of my latest album, "Fat Power." Again, it was another favor. I am always in Erectus' debt and here's to hoping for a strong recovery for the man who has meant so much to me, my family, my band and the entire Bay Area rock scene.
I am going to visit Erectus later today. I will keep everyone posted on his condition as information becomes available.
Count Dante
November 28, 2006